Accordio

Accordio

Accordio is a solar powered FM radio designed for the developing world.
It’s form is inspired by the accordion, and it can be easily closed or opened
to accommodate storage or charging. It is built using affordable, honest
materials (like cardboard and coated card stock) and features very simple
interaction techniques. Our intent was to create a device that low-income
individuals in developing regions could easily acquire and operate on an
ongoing basis–without access to reliable electricity utilities.

I contributed to the ideation, design and fabrication phases of
the project, including the modelling of our custom 3D parts (used inside the device and
as the volume dial and frequency slider). I maintained the project blog and created a
large poster displayed during an SFU exhibition.

Design + Fabrication

Accordio was an exploration in fabrication techniques and materials. In an effort
to create an affordable product we chose to work with simple materials like cardboard and card stock,
and off the shelf parts for our radio electronics. The goal was create a device that would be accessible
to everyone. We used an iterative design process to create several prototypes of increasing quality.

Parts + Blog + Poster

Early in the design process we decided that we wanted change the frequency dial
into a large slider. We wanted users to be able to mark their favourite radio stations along the
cardboard surface with pencil or pen. I used SolidWorks to design and model parts that could transfer
the sliding motion to the rotational input on the electronics board. See more on the project blog.